Steve Wennerstrom, IFBB Historian for Women's
Bodybuilding, Editor-At-Large for Flex and Editor-In-Chief of Women's Physique
World has just returned from attending the IFBB Women's "Universe"
in the Czech Republic and Emailed the Female Physique Webzine/Gallery this
brief report:

STEVE WENNERSTROM
REPORT

Just
back from Worlds in Europe. The contest was held in Brno, Czech Republic,
October 5-6. The crowd was an enthusiastic sellout. Right at 2,000
fans, and held in a gigantic, lavish, European nightclub. A first class
event if there ever was one.

Natalia
Proskouriakova (Russia) won lightweight gold.

Irina
Muntean (Romania) won MW. No American won a bodybuilding medal.

Christy
Robbins (silver) and Mari Kudla (bronze) in Body Fitness were only American
medalists.

We
were also shut out of the medals in Fitness. Iveta Statsenko
(Russia) was the medium and overall Fitness winner.

Tall
class Fitness winner was Gabriela Mlsnova (Slovakia), and Laurence Sarrazin-Habsi
of France was the short class winner.

SW

Comment:

The fact that no American women medaled in bodybuilding indicates
two things: (1) The United States did not send its best amateur female competitors
to the event (they all want to turn pro as soon as possible) and (2) there
are a lot of very good female bodybuilders in many countries around the
world.

However, there appears to be the same distrust and lack of
support for female bodybuilding elsewhere that we've seen in the United
States. There was even a rumour at the World's (apparently a false one,
thankfully) that the European federation was going to do away with weight
classes for women's bodybuilding. But stranger ideas have been proposed,
so almost anything is possible.

If there is opposition to aesthetic female muscle in the US,
imagine how much negativity the women have to deal with in other cultures
in which equality of opportunity for females is less respected, especially
in countries like Italy and Spain which still maintain a very "macho"
view of women. Given this "retro" view of gender equality, it
is no wonder the idea of "Body Fitness" (the international version
of NPC figure) is being welcomed enthusiastically. The fact that you have
a bodybuilding federation preferring a beauty contest format to a competition
featuring actual bodybuilders doesn't seem to strike the European IFBB as
inappropriate - much less sexist and discriminatory against women athletes.

Too bad for the IFBB that many of their attitudes regarding
female bodybuilding are in obvious violation of the International Olympic
Committees' clearly stated policies against gender discrimination.

"The IOC strongly encourages, by appropriate means,
the promotion of women in sport at all levels and in all structures,
particularly in the executive bodies of national and international
sports organisations with a view to the strict
application of the principle of equality of men and women."Rule 2, paragraph 5, Olympic Charter.